Bangalore Research Network’s Letter of Solidarity with JNU

We, the undersigned members of the Bangalore Research Network and a consortium of academics and researchers from Bangalore, declare our solidarity with the students and faculty of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi protesting the illegal police arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. We unequivocally stand by them in affirming that universities are autonomous spaces for the free expression of a plurality of beliefs and cannot become military spaces of thought control that go against the very grain of a democratic society.  With them, we condemn the blatantly authoritarian attempt by the police and the central government to witch hunt students on the basis of their political beliefs. We also condemn the unethical media trial of JNU students such as Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid.

In a speech that is now widely available on the internet, Kanhaiya Kumar spoke critically of the BJP government policies at a peaceful student meeting held at JNU which was well within his rights by the laws of the land.  This occurred a day after a group of unidentified students shouted slogans at an event that he had no part in organizing.  Legal luminaries have opined that those slogans about the rights of Kashmiris to independence from Indian military oppression over the last few decades, whether one might agree with them or not, do not amount to sedition.  Kanhaiya Kumar was, however, arrested by the police for ‘anti-national’ behaviour and for violating sedition laws against incitement of violence.  With no proof to substantiate the charge of sedition, his arrest can only be read as a reflection of the authoritarian nature of the current Indian government and its intolerance to any dissent. JNU is but the latest example of attempts to stifle dissenting student voices in university campuses across India, including others at FTII, BHU and University of Hyderabad. This is reflective of the current climate where higher education is being viewed as purely instrumental, captured by the logics of the neoliberal state and capital.

As researchers, scholars, and academics, we are extremely concerned with the manner in which the ruling government has so blatantly set aside India’s longstanding commitment to plurality in belief. The space and freedom to express diverse and divergent beliefs and opinions are the foundations for critical thought and expression that university spaces cultivate. We urge the Vice Chancellor of JNU, who gave the police permission to wrongfully detain and arrest JNU students, to recognize the momentum of support building up for them and to immediately step in to safeguard their rights.
Dated: February 22, 2016

Signatures in alphabetical order

1. Abeer Kapoor, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
2. Abhishek Hazra, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
3. Aditi Arur, Consultant, J-PAL South Asia, Bangalore
4. Amman Madan, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
5. Andrea Wright, Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Rhode Island
6. Anjali Shivanand, Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University, Bangalore
7. Aparna Sundar, Visiting Faculty, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
8. Andaleeb Rahman, Postdoctoral Fellow, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore
9. Anwesa Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
10. Archit Guha, Centre for Public History, Bangalore
11. Asha Verma, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
12. Ashwin, Independent Researcher, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
13. Atreyee Majumder, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
14. Avishek Ray, NIT Silchar
15. Bitasta Das, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
16. Debjani Banerjee, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
17. Devaki, L., Azim Premji University, Bangalore
18. Dhruva Desai, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
19. Elizabeth Thomas, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore
20. Gayatri Menon, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
21. Garima Jain, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore
22. Girija K P, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore
23. Gowri Vijayakumar, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
24. Hemangini Gupta, Department of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Colby College, Maine
25. Issac Arul Selva, Human Rights Activist, Bangalore
26. Jasmeen Patheja , Blank Noise.
27. Jyothsna Belliappa, Bengaluru
28. Kanthi Krishnamurthy, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore
29. Kavya Murthy, Bangalore
30. Kinnari Pandya, Azim Premji University, Benguluru
31. K Ravichandran, Student, Azim Premji University , Bangalore
32. Lakshmi Arya, Independent scholar and writer, Bangalore
33. Lata Mani, Independent Researcher, Bengaluru
34. Lindsay Vogt, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara
35. Madhu Bhushan, Independent (re)searcher-activist, Bangalore
36. Manisha Anantharaman, Justice Community and Leadership, Saint Mary’s College of California
37. Maia Barkaia,(JNU, 2010), Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi) and University of Oxford, Oxford.
38. Manu V. Mathai, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
39. Muthatha Ramanathan, Bangalore
40. Navdeep Mathur, IIM Ahmedabad
41. Narendra Raghunath, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
42. Neenu Suresh, National Law School of India University, Bangalore
43. Nikunja S. Bhuyan, Student, Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
44. Nimisha Agarwal, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
45. Nitya V, Bengaluru
46. Padma Baliga, St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru
47. Padmini Ray Murray, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
48. Pallavi Gaur, Student, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
49. Pooja Sagar, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
50. P. P. Sneha, Bangalore
51. Prakriti Prajapati, Researcher, ATREE, Bengaluru
52. Pranesh Prakash, Bangalore
53. Preeti Kharb, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
54. Rajeev Kumaramkandath, Christ University, Bengaluru
55. Rameshwara Nand Jha, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
56. Rashmi Sawhney, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
57. Renny Thomas (JNU 2015), Department of Sociology, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi
58. Riddhi Pandey, Student, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
59. Robert M Geraci, Manhattan College (former Visiting Scholar at IISc), New York
60. Rolla Das, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
61. Sanam Roohi, NIAS, Bangalore and AISSR, University of Amsterdam
62. Sarah Jacobson, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
63. Savitha Suresh Babu, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
64. Sahil Sasidharan, Associate – Academics & Research, IIHS, Bangalore/Bengaluru
65. Sazana Jayadeva, The German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg
66. Scott Sorrell, Department of Anthropology, Cornell University, New York
67. Sharad Sure, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
68. Sharmadip Basu, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
69. Shoibal Chakravarty, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
70. Shreyas Sreenath, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta
71. Shreyas Srivatsa, Urban Planner & Architect, Bangalore
72. Shrishtee Bajpai, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
73. Shruti Ajit, Researcher, Kalpavriksh, Pune
74. Simy Joy, Independent Researcher, Ely, England
75. Smriti Srinivas, NAGARA, Bangalore
76. Soundarya Iyer, Student, NIAS, Bangalore
77. Sreechand Tavva, Post Graduate Student, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
78. Sreeparna Chattopadhyay, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
79. Subadra Panchanadeswaran, Adelphi University, New York
80. Subir Rana, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
81. Sufaid V, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
82. Sunandan, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
83. Sunayana Ganguly, Independent researcher and entrepreneur, Bangalore
84. Suraj Jacob, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
85. Tarang Singh, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
86. Tathagata Biswas. Azim Premji University, Bangalore
87. Vasanthi Mariadass, Srishti Institute for Art Design and Technology, Bangalore
88. V R Vachana, Alumna, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
89. Vidhya Raveendranathan, Centre For Modern Indian Studies, Georg- August- University, Gottingen, Germany
90. Vikas Maniar, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
91. Vinay K Sreenivasa, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore
92. Vineeta, Alumnus, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
93. Vineeth Krishna E, Centre for Law and Policy Research, Bangalore
94. Vivek Mishra, Alumnus, Azim Premji Univerisity, Bangalore
95. Vrashali Khandelwal, Student, Azim Premji University, Bangalore